Pseudonym helped Rowling publish 'without expectation'

JK Rowling has secretly released a crime novel under the guise of a male debut writer Robert Galbraith.

The book topped the bestseller chart on Amazon after the Sunday Times revealed Galbraith's true identity.

Speaking to the Today programme, Carmela Ciuraru - author of Nom de Plume: A (Secret) History of Pseudonyms - said: "Sometimes it's pure fun, and it's a way of sticking it to the literary establishment, having a secret of your own.

"In Rowling's case, she said it was publish without hype and expectation and she was able to have her book judged on its own merits."